OE Global Conference 2023 – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
OE Global Conference 2023 – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
OE GLOBAL CONFERENCE 20023 – BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE WORLD THROUGH OPEN EDUCATION
The year 2022 was a turbulent one marked by war, food and supply chain shortages, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and severe climate events, all of which exacerbated economic, social, educational, and political inequality. The global community is facing crises on several fronts that point to an unsustainable future.
Urgent global cooperation is required to fulfill the 17 United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) and their accompanying targets by 2030. The SDGs address a range of often interrelated sustainability issues, including poverty and conflict, gender inequality, affordable and clean energy, and, of particular interest to educators, “inclusive and equitable quality education” and the promotion of “lifelong learning opportunities for all” (United Nations, 2022a, Quality Education section). Despite widespread international commitment to the SDGs, the 2030 agenda is in jeopardy, with one-quarter of the world’s population living in conflict zones, 24 million learners forced from school because of the pandemic, and end-of-decade greenhouse gases expected to rise by 14% (United Nations, 2022b, p. 3).
Given the threats to the planet and the slow progress towards meeting the SDGs and their targets, OE Global Edmonton 2023 will focus primarily on how open education can support the UN’s sustainable development goals, as well as UNESCO’s framework for achieving the SDGs, the five Education for Sustainable Development priority action areas. The recent UN Summit on Transforming Education clearly outlined the importance of digitally available open educational resources in supporting SDG 4: Quality Education.
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